#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; while (<>) { print "found '$1'\n" if /:([^;]+)/; } __END__ #### ./foo.pl input_file #### found ' karemaips01' found ' karemadom02' found ' karemadbo01' found ' karemadom01.emea.pfizer.com' found ' karemasss05' found ' ka-lvsapp' found ' emakars001.pfizer.com' found ' ka-lvsn1' found ' ka-efss' found ' ka-lvsn2' found ' karemafil-c' found ' ka-lvscluco' found ' ka-lvsdb'